Financial Advisor Platform

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a portal that receives provider content in various media from a plurality of provider sources to provide a private portal access to users and which allows users to select providers from the plurality of providers. The portal stores users own information as well as selected content from selected providers into a private firm archive where users can add comments and tags to the content and produces analytical data by comparing a provider&#39;s sales production data with a providers content consumption, to benchmark provider content consumption against other firms of similar nature. The portal reports user analytical data back to selected providers.

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. §119 to U.S.Provisional Patent Application Ser. No. 61/702,314, filed Sep. 18, 2012,and entitled “Financial Advisor Platform”, the entire contents of whichare hereby incorporated by reference.

INTRODUCTION

This disclosure relates to techniques for servicing financial advisorswith information content.

The Internet is one mechanism that makes available content, most oftenpresented as web pages, a page-sized formatted document with text,images, other media, and hyperlinks. Presently, there are around 12,000advisory firms registered with the SEC and around 200,000 FinancialIndustry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) registered representativesoperating within the “independent advice” segment of the retail advisorymarket. A remainder of that market is large banks and “wirehouse”brokerage firms, i.e., firms that have branches offices linked togetherover a communications network for sharing of financial information andresearch. Much of the advisory market is fee based.

Providers such as mutual fund families, ETF providers, separate accountmanagers, alternative investment managers, technology vendors, etc. seekto sell into the fee-based advisory market.

SUMMARY

Challenges for providers exist to effectively sell into the advisorymarket. Barriers include independent advisors are markedly lessimpressed with wholesalers and “push” marketing strategies. Further,there are limited venues for providers to meet advisors to introduceadvisors to provider offerings. Fee-based advisor are less visible toproviders compared to commissionable business and thus challenging forproviders to effectively profile them. While advisors are hungry forrelevant market and product information and supporting research, theyare being inundated by a barrage of calls, invitations, emails, andpaper.

Disclosed is a system including server computer systems that provide aprivate portal to receive provider content in various media from aplurality of provider sources. These provider sources can be varioussources. The portal allows users to actively select providers from theplurality of providers and it stores users' own information as well asselected content from selected providers into a private library whereusers can add comments and tags to the content. For the providers theportal captures user leads and content used by users and report userleads and content use back to selected providers.

According to an aspect, a system includes a server computer systemincluding a processor and a memory executing a computer program forconfiguring the server system to provide a private portal to receiveprovider content in various media from a plurality of provider sources,allow users to actively select providers from the plurality ofproviders, store users own information as well as selected content fromselected providers into a private library where users can add commentsand tags to the content, capture user leads and content use by users,and report user leads and content use back to selected providers.

According to an additional aspect, a system includes a server computersystem including a processor and a memory executing a computer programfor configuring the server system to provide a private portal to receiveprovider content in various media from a plurality of provider sources,allow users to actively select providers from the plurality ofproviders, store users own information as well as selected content fromselected providers into a private firm library where users can addcomments and tags to the content, produce analytical data by comparing aprovider's sales production data with a providers content consumption,to benchmark provider content consumption against other firms of similarnature, and report user analytical data back to selected providers.

According to an additional aspect, a method includes providing by one ormore server computers a private portal to receive provider content invarious media from a plurality of provider sources, allowing users toactively select providers from the plurality of providers, storing bythe one or more computers users own information as well as selectedcontent from selected providers into a private firm library where userscan add comments and tags to the content, producing analytical data bycomparing a provider's sales production data with a providers contentconsumption, to benchmark provider content consumption against otherfirms of similar nature, and reporting user analytical data back toselected providers.

According to an additional aspect, a computer program product tangiblestored on a computer readable storage device includes instructions forcausing a processor to receive provider content in various media from aplurality of provider sources to provide a private portal access tousers, select providers from the plurality of providers, store users owninformation as well as selected content from selected providers into aprivate firm library where users can add comments and tags to thecontent, produce analytical data by comparing a provider's salesproduction data with a providers content consumption, to benchmarkprovider content consumption against other firms of similar nature, andreport user analytical data back to selected providers.

The following are some of the features within the scope of the aboveaspects.

User actions on the content are shared with providers but a user'sadditions to the content are maintained private and are only shared withthe express permission of the user. Detailed provider information isnever shared with other providers. Users are authenticated as neededwithin recognized authorities. A fee is charged for access to theservice. A plurality of servers can be used that are cloud basedservers. Aspects produce analytical data to display provider contentconsumption trends and content usage and compare that to other firms ofsimilar nature at an aggregate level. Detailed provider information isnever shared with other providers. A registration process registersusers to access the system by evaluating an entity against a databasethat stores user profiles to verify that the entity is a valid member ofa regulatory organization such as FINRA/SEC or State Registered oraffiliated with the entity being either the user or a firm that the useris associated with. Use of content is maintained private and is onlyshared with providers with the express permission of the user. Providerinformation is never shared with other providers. Aspects aggregateprovider analytics across all providers and provide access to authorizedthird parties that serve an aggregate of provider information.

One or more aspects may provide one or more of the following advantages.

The portal will be especially useful to the registered as well as theindependent advisor industry by offering advisors the ability to curateprovider as well as their own information. The portal can drive clientacquisition, retention and incremental provider revenues by leveringproprietary technology and sophisticated analytics of member behaviors.This segment of retail-focused Advisors generates asset managementrevenues by collecting a certain percent of client assets, often 1% peryear. This represents a substantial shift away from historicalcommission-based compensation models. Advisors select mutual funds,ETFs, separate accounts, alternative investments, annuities andinsurance products as well as direct securities on behalf of theirclients. Advisors typically share several key features such as taking anobjective stance, “sitting on the same side of the table” as clientswhen evaluating products. As a result, Advisors seek low-cost andno-cost products, e.g., no-load funds and ETFs over higher expense or“loaded” products which contain embedded marketing and distributionfees.

Advisors cherish their independence and manage their operations as smallbusinesses operating with limited budgets and staff and do not haveinternal access to deep research and extensive marketing, operations andcompliance resources. Advisors have a fundamental need for providercontent and quality interactions.

The platform is able to directly address all of these constraints andoffer Providers expanded reach, quality and breadth of customerinteractions. The platform provides an alternative to the limitedcommunication channels available today email, snail mail, destinationwebsites, phone calls and conferences. The platform will offer a highlyprofessional platform that facilitates substantial relationship buildingbetween Advisors and Providers. The platform will offer Advisors aprivate portal to receive preferred Provider information in variousmedia (e.g., PDF, podcasts, video, etc.). They can also store owninformation as well as Provider content into a private firm librarywhere they can add comments and tags. The platform can be cloud-based.

Advisors actively select the providers they want to receive content fromin contrast to indiscriminant email blast campaigns. Advisors aresignificantly more inclined to view and interact with provider deliveredcontent that this self-selected or discovered by an advisor conducting asearch. The platform offers providers the ability to capture leads andeffectively focus on viable clients and prospects by understanding howcontent (PDF, podcasts or videos) they deliver to their clients throughthe platform is actually consumed. Unlike other campaign programs, whereinsight ends at the email interaction, the platform offers an ongoingview to the customer consumption patterns and usefulness rankings of aparticular piece.

The details of one or more embodiments of the invention are set forth inthe accompanying drawings and the description below. Other features,objects, and advantages of the invention will be apparent from thedescription and drawings, and from the claims.

DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

In some of the figures such as the wireframes, placeholder words inLatin are used and are not intended to be part of the description.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram view of a platform system.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart of login/registration process.

FIG. 3 is a flow chart of an overall process from an advisorperspective.

FIG. 4 is a diagram of an advisor (data consumer) user interface.

FIG. 4A is a diagram of an exemplary overlay on the advisor (dataconsumer) user interface.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart of an overall process from a providerperspective.

FIGS. 6-10 are diagrams of provider (data provider) user interfaces.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Described is a web-based system including an application that provides aportal for consumers of information to access information on a selectivebasis furnished by providers of such information. This application woulduseful various types of business to business interactions that requirean educated sales process where there are multiple vendors for the salesprocess to choose from. It is especially useful where the distributor isseeking to use intermediaries to distribute complex products. Examplesof this include the pharmaceutical industry, the medical deviceindustry, and the independent insurance agent industry.

One particular example is the system configured to handle informationneeds of registered investment professionals, otherwise known herein as“Investment Advisors” or more specifically “Advisors.” InvestmentAdvisors typically advise their clients on retirement planning, estateplanning, and managing assets. Advisors will sell a range of financialproducts to their clients. Advisors may be independent professionals ormay belong to a firm containing a number of advisors. An advisor can bemanaging hundreds of millions of dollars in client assets upwards tomulti-billions of dollars. An RIA (registered, independent advisor) isan investment professional that is independent, i.e., is licensed tosell investment products from any provider. Typically, RIAs havestricter licensing requirements and adhere to more stringent governmentoversight than a Registered Rep. RIAs are licensed with the SEC and aregiven a unique SEC identifier. Registered Reps are associated with abroker dealer and, similar to a franchise, are typically restricted toselling the investment products that the broker dealer offers.

Advisors provide a very personalized experience to their clients and aretypically paid a fee that is based on a percentage of the assets thatthey have under management for their clients. Therefore, they have avested interest in growing their client's portfolios.

The providers of financial products (financial services firms) spend anenormous amount of time and money producing marketing materials andtrying to influence advisors to sell their products. They will typicallycold call advisors and mail (snail mail) very high-end printedbrochures. Advisors by contrast, do not want to be cold called and havelittle bandwidth to consume unsolicited product materials. Advisors dohave a need for these materials and information, but want to be able toconsume it on their time, on their terms, in an environment where theycan consume it and manage it intelligently.

Referring now to FIG. 1, an exemplary networked computer system(platform) 10 for an advisory platform includes a computerized system orserver 12 for processing requests from advisors 14 at client stations 14a to obtain information with providers of financial products 16 atprovider systems 16 a. The server can be one of a plurality of serversand the plurality of servers can be cloud-based servers. The networkedcomputer system 10 implements a financial advisory platform as aweb-based application 23. The networked computer system 10 includes aweb server 18 to receive on-line web-based requests and web-basedcommunication channels from provider systems 16 a using a web browser orthe like. Web server 18 can be part of or separate from server 12 andindeed these servers can be distributed and cloud-based.

The platform 10 changes the way that advisors consume and interact withprovider information. Advisors see and accordingly work with onlycontent that they desire to work with supplied from providers that theyhave established relationships with. Advisors manage their own and theirfirms' content in electronic libraries maintained in the database 27 bythe platform 10. Providers offer their materials for storage on theplatform in a manner that the materials are easily searched andretrieved by advisors and ultimately accessed and consumed. Providersgain insights into usage patterns (both by clients individually and inthe aggregate) that in turn allows the providers to produce materialsand offerings that are more effective. The platform 10 will enableadvisors and their firms to view and manage provider content as well asview their own internal content (white papers, research, etc.) byuploading it to the platform 10 for storage in databases 27.

The server 12 executes various processes that are part of theapplication 23. Included are an authentication and registration process26 (FIG. 2), advisory management processing 28 (FIG. 3) and providerdocument management processes 30 (FIG. 5).

An Advisor Firm entity is represented in the platform as a table in thedatabase 27 that contains information about Firms. Each firm can haveone or more advisor users associated with it. Each investment advisorhas his or her own account within the platform. An Advisor Firm can alsohave one or many users with the permission (Advisor Administratorpermission) to be able to edit information about the firm itself, aswell as to manage user accounts that are associated with the AdvisorFirm. All Advisor Firm Entities are validated against a third partydatabase as part of the registration process to insure there are meetspecified regulatory or legal requirements according to jurisdiction,e.g., in the US, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority(FINRA)/Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or State registeredauthorities, or that they are affiliated with an entity that meets suchrequirements, as applicable. Users who are registering for the platformas Advisors will first be prompted whether they are an RIA or not.

Referring now to FIG. 2, authentication 26 uses a user's email addressto serve as their username/user ID. Alternatively, the system canprovide a user ID. The platform receives the e-mail address 52. If theemail already exists 54 the platform notifies user and prompts for loginand/or password recovery 54 a. Otherwise, if the firm does not alreadyexist in the system, then the platform will use the third party databaseto verify the validity of the user's firm. This database maintains dataon Registered Investment Advisors (RIAs) as well as Registered Reps.

Both RIAs and Registered Reps are considered advisors with respect tothe platform 10. However, RIAs are verified during authentication in adifferent manner than Registered Reps. The authentication process ismodified for a registered representative in that authentication does notcheck e-mail domain because the register representative is part of alarger firm. The unique name of the firm is used for registeredrepresentatives, but not e-mail domain. The principal of authenticationis the same where the platform 10 checks certain data fields againstFINRA, state and SEC databases to validate that the individual is afinancial professional in good standing.

User will be prompted 58 to provide their firm name and the city andstate in which the firm is located. If they are an RIA then the firmname will be matched against the database for which there should be amatch and a unique identifier (the SEC identifier for RIAs which isincluded in the database). If more than one firm with the same nameexists, then prompt the user to enter their street address (e.g. 123North Street) to narrow the match. During this process the platformshould not be displaying the actual partial matches to the user. Theplatform provides a message to the user indicating that their firm couldnot be verified and that they should contact the platform to providemore information. Once they make contact, then the platformrepresentative would manually verify the firm.

If an exact match can be made against the database, then there will be asecond verification 56 where the domain name of the user's email addresswill be checked to see if there is a website active with the domainname. For example, if the user enters domain name as part of an emailaddress then the platform will check to see if that is a valid websitedomain name. If yes, then user can proceed with other registrationprocess. If no, then user will see a message indicating that theycontact the platform to provide further information.

Further, when users are registering, if there is already a match on theuser's email address to a valid account in the system, then the usershould be prompted to log in. For example, if user's email address ischad@xyzcapital.com and there is already a firm entity “Xyz capital” inthe system with users that have email addresses with the domain of@xyzcapital.com” then users should be notified and have the ability tologin or send request to admin of Xyz capital to be added to account.Also, if user attempts to register with email with a different domain,but enters “XYZ Capital” as the firm name and there is already a matchfor firm name, then user will have the option to login or ask the firmadmin to be added to the account.

If the user's email domain does not match an existing firm, and the firmname that the user entered does not match an existing account, then theuser may proceed with registration and payment. By default, the user whosets up a new account with a new firm associated and pays, will becomethe firm administrator role for that firm. The payment information andsubscription information will be associated with his/her user ID. Eventhough other users in the firm may be assigned a user role of FirmAdministrator, the initial account producer will always be the accountadmin by default. Once the basic account information is entered, theuser will be prompted to enter some information about their firm (somenumber of fields). If possible, the platform would pre-fill thisinformation using the database. Finally, the user will be prompted toenter payment information. Payment will be via credit card.

Referring now to FIG. 3 an overview of the platform 10 operationespecially with respect to advisor management 28 (provider functionalityis shown by phantom connecting lines) is shown. The platform 10 provides72 a private portal to receive provider content in various media from aplurality of provider sources. The platform 10 presents 74 interfaces toadvisor users as discussed above that allow the advisor users toactively select providers from the plurality of providers of contentthat the advisors elect to deal with. The platform 10 in response toreceiving 76 these selections and content selections 78 made by theusers using interfaces for example as discussed below, furnishes 80provider content to the advisor. according to the selections made by theadvisor.

The provider information can be stored into various libraries indatabase 27. In addition, the platform 10 is configured to store 82advisor users own information as well as the selected content fromselected providers into a private library where users can add 84comments and tags to the content. The platform applies 86 analytics tocapture user leads and content use by users such as applying analyticsto capture usage patterns of content and reports such user leads andcontent use back to the corresponding providers. For example, theplatform 10 produces analytical data by comparing a provider's salesproduction data with a provider's content consumption to benchmarkprovider content consumption against other firms of similar nature andreport the analytical data back to the providers. The platform 10 isconfigured to produce analytical data that is displayed to providers andinvolves content consumption trends and content usage. The analyticsproduced for a provider can be compared that to other firms of similarnature at an aggregate level. Detailed provider information is notshared with other providers or advisors. The received provider contentcan be in various media forms, such as text documents, video, webpages,links etc. However, the platform 10 can be configured to aggregateprovider analytics across all providers and make that analyticinformation available to authorized third parties such as custodians andbroker/dealers, etc. or other entities that serve as an aggregator ofprovider information.

The platform is further configured to share 88 user actions on thecontent with providers. However, a user's annotations to the content aremaintained private and are shared only when the platform receives anexpress permission of the user. The platform 10 is further configured tocharge 89 user advisors a fee for access to the service.

Referring now to FIG. 4 an advisor console 90 includes a series of tabs92. A “My Dashboard” tab 92 a enables advisors to view only desiredcontent. The “My Dashboard” tab 92 a can be an initial view or whenactivated provides a quick view of the various functionality that theplatform offers to advisors. The full views are accessed throughremaining tabs 92 across the top or through a ‘see More” within a quickview. The advisor console 90 includes some common icons and controlsthat are present on the Dashboard tab 92 and throughout applicationsexecuted on the platform 10. The actual icons used can be depicteddifferently but will have the general functionality.

One icon is a “Store” icon 94 a that sends content into the user's Firmprivate archive. Only users authorized by the client will have access toan archive (based on permissions) and therefore only certain userswithin the advisor firm can add documents to the private archive. If anitem has already been added to the firm's archive, then the “store” iconwould no longer appear. Users can add comments to an item, however userscan only comment when the item been added to the user's archive. Once acontent item has been stored, the background color of the row associatedwith the item will be shaded to indicate that is has been stored.

A “Trashcan” icon 94 b enables the advisor to remove items from view ona personal level, e.g. where the user has already read the content andwould like to hide it so that it does not appear again for thatindividual user although the content is still searchable by that user.An item that is hidden in the Dashboard view will also be removed inexpanded views of the corresponding area.

A “comments” icon 94 c will display the comments overlay and allow theuser to view the comments associated with the article and also tocomment on a content article if the user is permissioned to do so. Thearticle is first stored within the firm's archive in order for it to becommented on. A tag icon 94 d will display the tagging overlay and willenable the user to tag the content item. An engage icon 94 e enables auser who is permissioned to engage with the provider of the contentitem.

If an advisor firm is already engaged with the provider, then thecontent item will appear in both the Public Library (e.g., a leadinginsights library) and also the Media Hub (e.g., a research hub). If theuser is not engaged with a provider, the advisor can still store it inFirm Archive without being engaged with the provider and will be able toview it from the firm archive.

The platform generates confirmation message overlays in certainconditions when a user makes a change to an account or when exiting aview/screen where they have initiated but not completed an action. Theoverlay is contextual and will typically present the user with optionssuch as continue, cancel, etc.

The My Dashboard tab 92 include a simple “search bar” 98 for users tosearch as well as a way to access advanced search capabilities.Selecting the search tab icon will pop-up a search box as an overlay inthe form of a small search field drop-down menu (not shown). Executing asearch will search all content repositories (Media Hub, all content fromengaged firms, the Public Library, the Private Archive, and the Calendarcontent). Users will view the search results from within the “Search”tab. By default search results are shown according to relevance. Theplatform 10 can use services to define relevance.

Highlighted Content is a single item of content that is drawn from the“Media Hub” stream of content and displayed prominently in area 100. Analgorithm/method for determining which content gets shown as theHighlighted Content can include various factors including the contenttitle, media type, and provider logo (or other image) displayed in acarousel style where the content shifts every few seconds. HighlightedContent can include papers, video, etc. For example, a white paper mayshow a thumbnail image that was uploaded along with the content. If nothumbnail available, a standard icon/thumbnail that represents awhitepaper can be displayed. Other functional items include a New ItemsIndictor that displays the number of new items added to the Media Hubsince the user's last session, a sort filter allows the user to changethe order of the media hub items to re-order by different criteria, anda section that display what other people are viewing and what they aresaying about the content.

Filter options include default 102 a, “Popular” 102 b and “Ranking” 102c options. There are three buttons 104 a-104 c for “ME”, “FIRM”, and“ALL” in area 104 that changes the view of content according to theselected option, e.g., ME will show content of user, Firm content ofothers in the firm and All will show all users over a period of time ornumber of documents. A “Ranking” filter sort items based on the averagerating of all users within the platform community that have rated thecontent. A “Popular” filter will sort items based on the number of viewsof the article (how many users in the platform community—allusers—viewed the article)—essentially the popularity of the contentamongst all users. Other controls could be included.

A Media Hub dashboard widget provides a “stream” of content displayed tothe Advisor on the Dashboard 90 as it becomes available to the platform10. All items in the Media Hub are either content that was added from aProvider that the Advisor's Firm has a relationship with or content thatwas saved to a Firm Archive sub tab 101 by an advisor user (contentsaved to the Firm Archive will automatically get displayed/streamed intothe Media Hub. The items displayed with the Media Hub 100 will beco-mingled by provider and by the firm's own content. ‘Firm Archive’ subtab 101 functions like the ‘Media Hub’ sub tab but will contain itemsthat have been added to the firm's archive.

The Public Library 106 is a collection of content that has been added tothe system by all Providers and displayed on the user's Dashboardwhether or not the Advisor has a relationship with the Provider thatposted it. A Public Library widget will contain a set number of items inwithin the viewing area on the Dashboard.

An Upcoming Events area 108 enables Advisors to be aware of events andactivities (conferences, webinars that are hosted/sponsored byProviders. An Upcoming Events widget will display events by Providersthat the Advisor Firm is engaged with. Users can click an UpcomingEvents item from the Dashboard and see a view which provides the detailsof the particular event that was selected (not shown).

Although not shown, the Upcoming Events area 108 displays a ‘calendar’view area that displays the details of the event. The platform alsoindicates an “Attendance event” indicating that an event is a physicalevent where attendees appear in person. A ‘Register for Event’ buttonwill be displayed if registration is required. If registration is notrequired, then a ‘Send Calendar Invite’ button will be displayed. A“Share” button allows a user to invite a friend and bring invitee tohome page. The recipient would receive an email with a link which wouldbring the user to a “splash page” where the recipient can see some basicinformation about the platform and call/email/contact form for moreinformation.

Public Library Tab 106 contains content from Providers that theAdvisor's firm does not have a relationship with. The tab is an expandedview of the Public Library widget on the Dashboard.

Permissioned Advisors can add any content type to the firm's archive(Firm Archive) section and it will be accessible by any user within thefirm. When the content is added, the content will stream through theMedia Hub section is chosen by provider, which will provide addedexposure to the content piece. For example, the content may be found ina search, but the content could be surfaced from the “Public Library” bya Provider that the firm does not yet have a relationship with. A userfrom within the firm can then add the piece of content to the Firm'sArchive. It will then be accessible later to any user within the firm.The content would also stream through the Media Hub for users within thesame firm. When content is moved to the Firm Archive from the PublicLibrary, this activity will be tracked so that reporting can begenerated (which firms found which content interesting, which ones byProviders they did not have a relationship with, etc.).

Referring now to FIG. 4A, an advisory upload overlay 125 is shown. Thisoverlay 125 includes an area 125 a that identifies a document or othercontent, a comments area 125 b and an area 125 c for tagging thecontent.

Referring now to FIG. 5, the platform 10 process 30 (FIG. 1) enablesproviders and their authorized employees to upload content into contentlibraries stored in storage 27 (FIG. 1). The platform provides 112 aprivate portal to providers. The platform presents interfaces toprovider users, 114 and receives 116 provider uploaded content, storesand makes available the provider content 117, and produces and sends 118to providers reporting and analytics to assist providers in betterunderstanding advisor usage patterns and effectiveness of the materialsbeing consumed by advisors over the platform 10. The platform 10 cancharge 120 providers for access to the platform 10.

The platform 10 allows advisors to access to content anywhere/anytime,controls which providers have access to that advisor's informationportal (“media hub”) based on advisor-established relationships, andcontrols access to and use of a “private library” for allowing advisorsto save provider content as well as their own content. The platformprovides tagging and key word searching capabilities that let advisorseasily access important information. In some embodiments, advisors havemultiple seats without additional charges, whereas in other embodimentsadvisors are charged on a per seat basis.

The platform 10 enables providers to post up to a specific number ofitems per month and a certain number of items per year for posting tothe Public library. The number is determined based on variousconsiderations and can be several, e.g., 2-7 to many 10's or 100's orcan be an unlimited number.

Providers are users who are employees of companies that providefinancial service information to advisors. Within these companies, thereare employees with various responsibilities for sales, marketing, andbusiness development (see User/Buyer Personas). Uses of the Providerrole will typically be interested in using the platform 10 to uploadtheir company's marketing materials, viewing usage statistics of theircontent, and interacting with Advisor users who chose to engage withthem. Each Provider user will be tied to a Provider Company record inthe database so that each Provider Company could have multiple userswith the role of Provider associated with it.

Various overlays are generated over the interface 90 including anupcoming events overlay that provides the advisor with details on aparticular event. A comment viewer can be provided as an overlay to viewcomments made by an advisor on private stored materials. Another overlayis a share overlay that contains contact information on persons' namesthat shares comments and who the comments are shared with.

Referring now to FIG. 6, upon logging-in, Provider users will see aninterface 130 that is specific to Provider task functionality. Providertasks will be centered upon uploading and managing their content,engaging with advisors, as well as reporting and analytics. The maintabs of the provider interface include a dashboard tab 132 (shown bydefault) that provides an overview of information that is useful forproviders. Also included is a content manager tab 134, an area whereproviders manage all aspects of content including uploading pieces,adding tags and key words, and setting release and expiration dates. Areporting module tab 136 is also provided to monitor piece inventory andstatus. Also included is an Event Manager tab 136 for Providers topublish upcoming events, webinars and conferences for Advisor attendanceto all or targeted engaged clients and a reports area where providerscan obtain detailed reporting according to item and client. Analyticstab 140 can be add-pay services that are outside the platform product.For example—comparing a provider's sales production data with theircontent consumption or benchmarking their content consumption againstother firms of similar nature.

The Dashboard tab 132 has of five panels/modules, two of which areinteractive including the client Stats area 132 a that providesinformation on the “clients” (Advisor Firms) that a provider is engagedwith, a Content Inventory area 132 b will provide the Provider withinsight about current counts related to provided content inventory, aswell as “Database” that refers to content that has been loaded into thedatabase but is not yet visible to users in the Media Hub or Publiclibrary and “Recently Viewed” a metric by which users can see how manypieces of content were viewed over a certain time frame. An Upcomingevents area 132 c will give Providers a sense of who has been signing upfor their events and a Latest Clients area 132 d will provide the userwith insight into some of the latest clients (Advisor Firms) that theProvider has engaged with and Latest Content 132 e shows the most recentcontent items that the provider added to the system. A Reports area 132f enables the provider user to access all available reports via adrop-down selector. Selecting a report will load the report into themain viewing area. A search 133 for firm allows the user to find aspecific Advisor firm in the report.

Referring now to FIG. 7, the Content Manager tab 134 when selectedprovides to Providers a mechanism to upload and manage content on theplatform 10. The Content Manager tab 134 can include plural sub-tabs 134a-134 c, here three sub tabs are shown and organized as ‘ActiveInventory’, ‘Reports’, and ‘Upload.’ The Active Inventory Sub Tab 134 a(shown) displays all active content that the Provider has within theplatform application. A search function 132 e allows users to search bytitle name or date range, etc. and the results will be retrievedaccording to the search.

An action column 134 f allow user to edit a document's details byopening an “Edit Document” view in an overlay (not shown). Reports subtab 134 b in Content Manager 134 is used to display all of the activecontent that has been uploaded by the provider. Reports sub tab 134 bhas similar functionality at those discussed above. An Upload sub tab134 c within Content Manager enables users to upload and tag content.

The edit document overlay (not shown) within the Content Manager enablesproviders to edit the details of documents that have already beenuploaded into the system and will also enable them to delete documents.

Referring now to FIG. 8, the Event Manager tab 136 enables providers tomanage events accessible via the platform 10. The event manager tab 136renders a list 136 a of current events that are in the platform 10 anddetails including Event title (sortable), Date/time (sortable), Eventtype (sortable), e.g., the type of event (e.g., webinar, conferencecall, etc.), number of Attendees (sortable), and an Action (sortable)field that allows user to edit details of the event and to view a rosterof attendees. Produce new event 136 b allows a user to produce a newevent, and Event Reporting brings user to an Reports/Events view. Theedit event view (not shown) is an overlay that appears when the userclicks the edit event button within the action column. Allowing alldetails of the event to be edited, e.g., event title, description,time/date, duration, event link (URL to the event webpage), event type,whether registration is required, whether event repeats, upload ofdocuments, allows a user to duplicate the event and to delete the eventand notify registrants via an email to registrants with the eventinformation and saves the event and makes available immediately to allusers in the system.

A Create Event view (not shown) will be displayed in an overview andwill enable providers to enter a new event into the system. The fieldshere will be the same as the Edit Event view except that there is a fileupload capability for uploading PDF documents.

The analytics tab 140 when selected presents a view (not shown) thatdisplays charts and other graphical representations of data to helpproviders better understand the effectiveness of content consumptionwithin the platform 10. The interface allows a user to selectcomparative charts that allows the user to select several charts at atime and compare the data between them.

Referring now to FIG. 9, a reporting section 138 provides reports thatare specific to the content that the Provider has available within theplatform 10. The reports are selected from a pull down control 138 a bytype and include various types of reports. One type of report (Contentuse each item by each firm) has statistics such as how many users vieweda particular content item, which firms, average time spent, averagerating, etc., saves, etc. as illustrated. The report drop down 138 aallows users to select other types such as content inventory, itemstatus, content inventory, all member personnel to run a report on.Selecting a new content item will load a report into main viewing area138 b that is specific to the type chosen. Searching can be by title ofcontent or date range. The report area 138 b displays results in tabularformat.

Providers can review reports about the content consumed by the clients(Advisors) that they are engaged with. The Client reports provideinformation about clients including firm changes, personnel changes,firm information, assets under management (AUM) stats, etc.

Various overlays are generated over the dashboard including a FirmProfile Overlay when a user drills into a firm link from within one ofthe reports. This overlay provides the provider with details on theparticular firm that was clicked on within the reports. The informationin this overlay is provided from the Advisor profile. Another overlay isa Personnel Profile that contains available information on a person'sname clicked within a report—i.e. the individual user of the system. Theinformation in this view would have been captured when each individualuser account was produced by an administrator at the advisor firm, orwould be the information related to the first user from the firm whoproduced the platform account from within the registration process.

Referring now to FIG. 10, a Provider Admin interface 160 enablesProvider Administrators to manage details of how their companyinformation is displayed within the platform 10. The Provider Admininterface 160 includes three sub tabs “Firm Details” 162 a, “ManageUsers” 162 b, and “Administration” 162 c. The “Firm Details” tab 162 ais active by default. Firm Details tab 162 a enables provideradministrator to manage information about their company. Here there arefive panels, Firm Information 164 a, Primary Business Contact 164 b,Firm Logo 164 c, Public Library 164 d, and Media Hub 164 e.

Firm Information area 164 a includes name, address, city, zip, etc. ofthe firm. The Primary Business Contact information area 164 b includesinformation of the company's primary business contact. The Firm Logoarea 164 c enables a provider to upload one or more logos into theplatform for use in various interfaces, etc. Public Library area 164 dlists activity statistics for the present quarter regarding the firm'sdocuments in the public library including the provider's limit that itis allowed to upload into the library, the total number of pieces thatit has uploaded in the current quarter, and the total number of piecesthat the provider has in the public library. The Media Hub area 164 eprovides media hub-related statistics for the current quarter includingthe provider's quarterly limit, number of pieces it has uploaded, piecesremaining, and total number of pieces available in Media Hub.

Provider Engagement Information (not shown) has input for whereproviders can enter a text message or jpeg that is displayed in the boxwithin the PDF viewer.

The Manage Users sub tab 162 b will enable provider administrators tomanage the users that have access to their account, along with theirprivileges. The Manage Users view (not shown) will contain panelsincluding user information, professional role, and privileges. UserInformation includes fields necessary for producing a provider useraccount including name, title, email, etc. Professional role user isassigned one professional role from checkboxes. Privileges user assignedone or more roles.

The Administration sub tab 162 c provides a list view of existing usersand lets the admin user edit the users and edit the user's privileges.This view includes three panels (user status & privileges, Tags, andTickers). All fields will be pre-populated with data where available.

The platform Administration Console 160 enables platform employees toadminister general system settings and capabilities as well as toadminister accounts on behalf of both Providers and Advisors. One of thefeatures of the platform 10 Administration interface is for a platformemployee to see application in the same views as the provideradministrator or the Advisor Administrator role would see such views.This is accomplished by a selector control that will enable the user toselect which view they would like to see (Admin, Provider Admin, orAdvisor Admin). A “Search Firms” search bar allows the platform Admin tobe able to look-up an account for either an Advisor or a Provider byentering the account name into the search bar. The platform Admin canedit any aspect of the chosen account. The functionality similar to theAdvisor Admin console discussed above. For example, for a Provider ViewFirm Details the admin area will mirror the functionality of theProvider Admin section exactly (same actions, same field editing,uploads of content, etc.).

The invention can be implemented in digital electronic circuitry, or incomputer hardware, firmware, software, or in combinations thereof.Apparatus of the invention can be implemented in a computer programproduct tangibly embodied in a machine-readable storage device forexecution by a programmable processor; and method actions can beperformed by a programmable processor executing a program ofinstructions to perform functions of the invention by operating on inputdata and generating output. The invention can be implementedadvantageously in one or more computer programs that are executable on aprogrammable system including at least one programmable processorcoupled to receive data and instructions from, and to transmit data andinstructions to, a data storage system, at least one input device, andat least one output device. Each computer program can be implemented ina high-level procedural or object oriented programming language, or inassembly or machine language if desired; and in any case, the languagecan be a compiled or interpreted language. Suitable processors include,by way of example, both general and special purpose microprocessors.Generally, a processor will receive instructions and data from aread-only memory and/or a random access memory. Generally, a computerwill include one or more mass storage devices for storing data files;such devices include magnetic disks, such as internal hard disks andremovable disks; magneto-optical disks; and optical disks. Storagedevices suitable for tangibly embodying computer program instructionsand data include all forms of non-volatile memory, including by way ofexample semiconductor memory devices, such as EPROM, EEPROM, and flashmemory devices; magnetic disks such as internal hard disks and removabledisks; magneto-optical disks; and CD_ROM disks. Any of the foregoing canbe supplemented by, or incorporated in, ASICs (application-specificintegrated circuits).

One such type of computer includes a programmable processing systemsuitable for implementing or performing the apparatus or methods of theinvention. The system includes a processor, a random access memory(RAM), a program memory (for example, a writable read-only memory suchas a flash ROM), a hard drive controller and an input/output (I/O)controller coupled by a processor bus. The system can be preprogrammed,in ROM, for example, or it can be programmed (and reprogrammed) byloading a program from another source (for example, from a floppy disk,a CD-ROM, or another computer).

An execution environment includes computers running an operating systemand browsers. Other environments could of course be used.

A number of embodiments of the invention have been described.Nevertheless, it will be understood that various modifications may bemade without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.Accordingly, other embodiments are within the scope of the followingclaims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system comprising a server computer systemcomprising a processor; and a memory executing a computer program forconfiguring the server system to provide a private portal to receiveprovider content in various media from a plurality of provider sources;allow users to actively select providers from the plurality ofproviders; store users own information as well as selected content fromselected providers into a private library where users can add commentsand tags to the content; capture user leads and content use by users;and report user leads and content use back to selected providers.
 2. Thesystem of claim 1 wherein user actions on the content is shared withproviders but a user's additions to the content is maintained privateand is only shared with the express permission of the user.
 3. Thesystem of claim 1 wherein detailed provider information is never sharedwith other providers.
 4. The system of claim 1 further configuring theserver to authenticate users and firms as needed within recognizedauthorities.
 5. The system of claim 1 further configuring the server tocharge users a fee for access to the service.
 6. The system of claim 1further configuring the server to charge providers a fee for access tothe service.
 7. The system of claim 1 wherein the server is one of aplurality of servers and the plurality of servers are cloud basedservers.
 8. The system of claim 1 further configuring the server toproduce analytical data to display provider content consumption trendsand content usage and compare that to other firms of similar nature atan aggregate level.
 9. The system of claim 1 wherein detailed providerinformation is never shared with other providers.
 10. The system ofclaim 1 further configuring the server to perform a registration processto register users to access the system, with the server furtherconfigured to: evaluate an entity against a database that stores userprofiles to verify that the entity is a valid member of a regulatoryorganization such as FINRA/SEC or State Registered or affiliated withthe entity being either the user or a firm that the user is associatedwith.
 11. A system comprising a server computer system comprising aprocessor; and a memory executing a computer program for configuring theserver system to provide a private portal to receive provider content invarious media from a plurality of provider sources; allow users toactively select providers from the plurality of providers; store usersown information as well as selected content from selected providers intoa private firm library where users can add comments and tags to thecontent; produce analytical data by comparing a provider's salesproduction data with a providers content consumption, to benchmarkprovider content consumption against other firms of similar nature; andreport user analytical data back to selected providers.
 12. The systemof claim 11 wherein user use of content is maintained private and isonly shared with providers with the express permission of the user. 13.The system of claim 11 wherein detailed provider information is nevershared with other providers.
 14. The system of claim 11 furtherconfigured to: aggregate provider analytics across all providers; andprovide access to authorized third parties that serve an aggregate ofprovider information.
 15. A method comprising providing by one or moreserver computers a private portal to receive provider content in variousmedia from a plurality of provider sources; allowing users to activelyselect providers from the plurality of providers; storing by the one ormore computers users own information as well as selected content fromselected providers into a private firm library where users can addcomments and tags to the content; producing analytical data by comparinga provider's sales production data with a providers content consumption,to benchmark provider content consumption against other firms of similarnature; and reporting user analytical data back to selected providers.16. The method of claim 15 wherein user use of content is maintainedprivate and is only shared with providers with the express permission ofthe user.
 17. A computer program product tangible stored on a computerreadable storage device comprising instructions for causing a processorto receive provider content in various media from a plurality ofprovider sources to provide a private portal access to users selectproviders from the plurality of providers; store users own informationas well as selected content from selected providers into a private firmlibrary where users can add comments and tags to the content; produceanalytical data by comparing a provider's sales production data with aproviders content consumption, to benchmark provider content consumptionagainst other firms of similar nature; and report user analytical databack to selected providers.
 18. The product of claim 17 wherein user useof content is maintained private and is only shared with providers withthe express permission of the user.